Tex, Nets, and Success?

The bell on the Imporium’s front door jingled cheerfully as Six entered, with Tex darting in around their feet and nearly tangling them up in its leash. Six kept a mental review list of all the different bells and chimes that businesses around Burrowgatory, and the Imporium’s bell was ranked high. Bright and clear, loud enough to be heard over the various noises of imps and buns bustling around the shop, but not shrill and didn’t carry on ringing for too long. Five stars, keep up the good work, bell.

With a shop as busy as the Imporium typically was, Six always had to take a few moments to orient themselves as the tide of noise washed over them. Tex sat down by their side after its initial burst of excitement, but Six could feel it vibrating excitedly at the sights, sounds, and smells of other imps nearby. Once the surroundings no longer felt quite so overwhelming, Six gave Tex’s leash a gentle tug. “Let’s go up to the front,” they said chipperly, and Tex happily jumped up and pulled them in the direction of the shop’s front counter.

They could hear Hutch rummaging through things behind the counter when they approached. (They could smell him, too; other buns didn’t particularly like Six commenting on the fact that they could smell them, but you could be smelled without being stinky. Everyone had an identifiable scent if your sense of smell was strong enough, and Six’s nose just happened to be that strong. Nobody appreciated it when they made that point, though.)

“Hiya,” Six called out when they reached the counter, to be sure that they got Hutch’s attention. “Reporting for duty!”

“Oh- hi!” Hutch’s voice initially sounded from somewhere near the floor, suggesting that he was digging through some kind of imp supplies on a low shelf before straightening up to talk to them. “You’re here about the ad I put out for help collecting some new imps?”

“Yep-erino!” Six bent to pick up Tex and held it up proudly. “Tex has the best sniffer in Burrowgatory for finding other imps. And I have the second-best!” Tex wiggled happily in their arms.

It sometimes took a bit of work to convince others that Six really could make their way around just fine, much less find specific things. It was true that without their blindfold, the world around them was little more than a blur of indistinct, disorienting colors and fuzzy spots of darkness. With that unhelpful smear of visual stimuli hidden though, Six’s senses of hearing and smell were excellent, and they had Tex and their cane to help them sus out anything that might have stood in their way. Fortunately, they’d always known Hutch to be an open-minded sort; he saw all kinds of potential in the many imps that lurked around Burrowgatory even when other buns saw them as nuisances, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch to extend that to buns as well.

Plus, Six was offering free help. Who didn’t like free help? Nobody, that was who.

Sure enough, Hutch answered their declaration with cheerful acceptance. “Great! I had a few people come by this morning, but I think you’re the last one until tomorrow. Just let me finish getting things together, and we can head out. I’ll probably close early today after we see what we can find and spend the rest of the afternoon getting everyone settled. It takes time to introduce so many new imps to each other!”

Hutch’s piece said, the rustle and clatter of him retrieving supplies, restocking a few shelves of imp equipment from the store room in the back, and so on resumed. Six set Tex back on the ground and idly gave it some scritches behind the ears while they waited; they could tell that Tex was having a hard time sitting still with so many other imps nearby but out of reach. They patted it on the head, silently assuring it that soon they’d both be able to run around to their heart’s content; this errand was half an excuse to just let Tex drag them around to wherever in a productive manner.

Soon enough, Hutch popped back up with a “Ready!” Tex pulled at its leash to follow him when he stepped out from behind the counter and headed for the door, and Six gave the leash some slack so that they could do so together. Outside, they paused for Hutch to flip the Imporium’s sign to “Closed” and lock up, and then he handed a net to Six, careful to not let the dangling mesh snag on their horns.

“There’s a park nearby that I’ve been getting calls about,” Hutch explained as they started walking. “It sounds like there’s been a bit of a population boom over there lately, so it sounds perfect. A bunch of imps already living together will be socialized ahead of time, and they’re used to buns… maybe too used to them, since I keep hearing about them stealing food.”

“Sounds about right,” Six agreed. They’d had the odd encounter with a wild imp going for the pouch of treats that they usually kept on-hand for Tex on outings. In a way, chasing around some other imps on this errand for Hutch was a chance for Tex to exact revenge on the feral imps for the sins of their brethren.

Not that Six could begrudge anyone all that much for indulging their sins, even imps.

Once they reached the park that Hutch had mentioned, Six felt Tex perk up, possibly catching the scent of other imps already. “Here we are!” Hutch announced as Tex scampered around Six’s feet, pawing at the ground and examining every part of the surrounding area that it could reach.

“I have some carriers here,” Hutch said, rattling one so that Six could hear. They moved closer to get a feel for the cage accordingly. “Each carrier can hold three or four imps comfortably, but we can probably only carry one apiece,” they continued. “So once you’ve managed to lure that many in, meet me back by the park entrance. If you don’t find that many, let’s meet back here anyway in… two hours, say? Sound good?”

“All good with me,” Six agreed. And with that, they were off.

It was a haphazard effort. Six let Tex lead the way, darting around the park’s open areas and pulling Six along behind, chasing scent trails and whatever other signs of passing feral imps that it found. Six’s part in the hunt mostly consisted of swinging the net that Hutch had given them in what sounded like the right direction whenever Tex stopped to indicate a find.

Against all odds, they actually managed to catch not one, but two entire imps! Chirops or corvats, from the sound of the offended flapping within the net. That was all they managed to both snag with the net and entice into the cage, anyway, before the timer on their phone went off to notify them that their two hours were up.

“Hey, success! Look at us,” Six told Tex, fishing a treat from their pouch to feed it. They followed the treat with some congratulatory head pats, then picked up the cage and net once more, leaving Tex’s leash looped around their arm as they once again oriented themselves on the park’s trail and then started back towards the entrance.

Hutch was already waiting there with what sounded like a full carrier of imps himself by the time they arrived with their small bounty. “Hey, good job!” He called when he noticed Six and Tex approaching victorious. “Here, I’ll take the nets.” Six handed their net over accordingly and then adjusted their hold on the carrier with the pair of imps flapping inside, shifting and then finally settling and accepting capture.

“Don’t you guys worry,” Hutch cooed to the imps in the cages. “I’ll get you comfy beds and so much tasty food, and make sure you find good homes. You’ll love it.” He turned back to Six. “Ready to head back to the Imporium?” They could hear the smile in his voice.

“Sure thing!” They smiled back and took a moment to wrangle Tex, who was investigating the cage they carried and the imps within, back into business mode. Tex did keep getting distracted on the way back to the shop though, darting between Six and Hutch in curiosity and leading Six in a zig-zag pattern behind it. Go figure.